A nuclear fusion reactor in which a magnetic field keeps charged, hot plasma moving in a doughnut-shaped vacuum container.
Efforts to duplicate on Earth the fusion reactions that power the sun and stars for unlimited energy must contend with extreme heat-load density that can damage the doughnut-shaped fusion facilities called tokamaks, the most widely used laboratory facilities that house fusion reactions, and shut them down.
Perhaps the greatest technological challenge to harvesting on Earth the fusion energy that powers the sun and stars in future tokamak fusion reactors will be controlling the extreme heat that could strike the exhaust system inside the devices.
State-of-the-art fusion research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has brought the lab three new public-private contracts to facilitate harnessing on Earth the fusion that powers that sun and stars.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is collaborating with private industry on cutting-edge fusion research aimed at achieving commercial fusion energy. This work, enabled through a public-private DOE grant program, supports efforts to develop high-performance fusion grade plasmas.
A subcommittee convened by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) to develop a long-range plan for FES has released its final report that lays out a strategic plan for fusion energy and plasma science research over the next decade. The report has been two years in the making, gathering an unprecedented level of input and support from across the diverse U.S. fusion energy and plasma sciences community. Its strategic plan charts a path for the U.S. as it seeks to develop fusion as a limitless and practical source of energy.
Scientific discoveries, educational opportunities and wide-ranging events highlighted the 62nd American Physical Society-Division of Plasma Physics annual meeting, which attracted participants from around the world. The session this year, held virtually November 9 to 13, drew more than 150 physicists, engineers and students from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory managed by Princeton University.
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